Chief guest Longrineken Ao, adviser to Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency, said the Nagaland Bamboo Mission, an initiative of the agency, had taken up several entrepreneurial and development projects in the state and established trained bamboo craftsmen and entrepreneurs.
He said the celebrations aimed to promote bamboo as a resourceful medium in generating livelihood and encouraging entrepreneurship.
Longrineken, who hoisted the World Bamboo Day flag, said the state has taken the initiative to develop the potential of bamboo and its benefits. The development of bamboo in the state is envisaged to be taken up from two perspectives — resource development and enterprise development.
He said Nagaland has about 4.48 lakh hectares of land under bamboo cultivation or 5 per cent of the total bamboo in the country.
The first World Bamboo Day was celebrated at Kisama Naga Heritage village in 2010 and since then, the celebration has become an annual event with the initiative of the state government.
Longrineken gave an award, including cash and a certificate to Pushito Aye, a progressive bamboo farmer, and Lanuwati Jamir, a progressive entrepreneur/craftsman. He also inaugurated an exhibition-cum-sales hall.
The agency has also set up an information centre at the research centre where the public can seek information on the activities undertaken by it.